The next day, Dan woke up on the bottom bunk of his four poster bed he shared with another boy whose name he couldn't be bothered to remember.

He looked at the clock next to his bed, which read 8:56. His first class began at 9:10.

He jumped into the shower, dressed into his robes quickly and ran down to the greenhouses - conveniently located near the dungeons - with his hair still wet and two minutes to spare.

When he walked in, he noticed a tall figure - although they were the same height - standing over the crowd, talking animatedly to a blonde girl. He stood out not only because of his height but because of his dark black hair.

Dan called out before he could stop himself.

"Phil!"

The boy turned around and smiled. He excused himself from the conversation with the girl and parted through the crowd easily.

"Hey, Dan. It's cool we have first period together! Let me see your schedule . . . what other classes do we have together?"

As Phil pointed out they not only had first, second, seventh and eighth period together, the bell rung. A small, stout woman stood on some books atop a chair. A few of Dan's fellow Slytherins snickered at the woman's height but the Hufflepuffs scowled at them. Phil whispered that Professor Sprout was the Head Of Hufflepuff.

"Good morning, students. Today we are studying mandrakes. Mandrakes, or mandragora, are plants that have roots in humanoid form but when they cry - put on your earmuffs now - it is fatal to anyone who hears it." 

The rest of the lesson they learned how to properly uproot mandrakes. Dan had great difficulty with it. He couldn't pull it up all the way and was only able to pull it up to its midriff, causing it to shriek louder.

"Good thing you've got those earmuffs," Phil said, before pulling out the mandrake for him when Professor Sprout's back was turned. Dan smiled gratefully.

Phil helped Dan properly uproot the mandrake and by the time the bell rung Dan had uprooted a decent amount of mandragora. Dan thanked Phil, and they walked together to their second period, Potions with Professor Slughorn, walking around the Great Lake.

Dan pointed it out to Phil and said, "My common room is next to the lake! The dungeons are way underground."

"Woah, that's really cool," said Phil. "My common room is near the kitchens. I can nick food anytime I want. My brother showed me how to get in the kitchens, and the house elves practically beg me to steal the food. They love serving."

Dan stopped. "House elves? What are those?"

Phil explained how house elves were magical creatures that didn't technically count as wizards nor beasts. Somewhere in between like merpeople or werewolves.

"They can talk. My family has one, her name is Kristy. She loves giving me cake in the middle of the night when I wake up from a nightmare . . . Anyway," Phil finished talking when they reached the dungeons.

Professor Slughorn welcomed them and taught them about veritaserum, the most powerful truth telling potion in the world. "Three drops of this, and your innermost secrets will be spilled to the world," the old man explained. Dan was fascinated.

He whispered to Phil, "In the Muggle world, we just have police interrogations and lie detectors." Phil chuckled.

At the end of the class, they had a pop quiz about everything they learned about the truth-telling potion and Dan let Phil cheat off his quiz, because Phil had trouble paying attention. They both got 100%.

The rest of the day until seventh period went uneventfully. Seventh period was Defense Against the Dark Arts with a new - rather pale - professor, Professor Carbonaries. She welcomed the students with an airy Translyvanian voice.

"Hello, children. Please open your textbooks to page 298 and read until page 340. You have all period to take notes."

Phil whispered to Dan, "Notes? On the first day? What is this, law school?" (Which Dan had told him about prior to seventh period.)

The professor's voice went from airy to hard as diamonds. "Mr. Lester, it would do you well to keep your rude comments to yourself. If you would please move to sit in the back of the classroom to take notes by yourself, far away from Mr. Howell 15 points from Hufflepuff for a sharp tongue. "

Phil gasped in shock, but did as he was told.

He glanced at Dan as if to say he were sorry and moved to the furthermost back of the classroom.

"Nice going, Philip," said a random Hufflepuff. Carbonaries said nothing.

The rest of the period was quiet.